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Sunday, January 22, 2012

I have a problem and thought I would ask everyone in blog land to help me solve it. I purchased this house a few years ago and never thought about the position of the stairs. Now I'm wondering about removing part of the wall which opens up the stairwell into part of each room. I thought about opening the stairwell into the kitchen and the bathroom. What do you all think? Im yet to wall paper the house so I would do it before starting the wallpapering.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

On Wednesday I was lucky enough to convince one of my friends to go with me to Cockington Green in Canberra (Australia's Capital City) Cockington Green has been open for many years. I remember going when I was little and had fond memories of it and thought it would be good to see it again.

Almost all of the buildings have been made by the family that owns it. Most of the buildings are 1/12th scale (which is why I was extra interested in seeing their work)

Many of the houses are based on real houses in the UK.The first house pictured is covered in what looks like ivy. It ends up that it is a miniature fig. It does look really effective growing all over the building.

A Manor House.

A very old and crooked house.

A thatched house.

Tudor Style?

A small village.

I have taken many photos so will post more soon. One of the best things about Cockington Green is the gardens. Many of the trees/shrubs look like they have been created using bonsai techniques as they look perfectly sized for the buildings. All this has almost inspired me to create a house for a garden. My mum has a lovely conifer garden that is now calling out for a little house. I probably couldn't have the house out permanately (maybe put it out at Christmas time)

Monday, January 9, 2012

The front doors are fidly too and keep falling off! I will have to rethink how they attach to the house.

Thanks to everyone for all your lovely comments. The search for a kit or new project continues.

To answer Audra's question.

What houses do they sell in Australia?

Many houses are for sale here but are extremely expensive. Only one shop seems to sell Greenleaf and only a small selection of them. Craftworks are an Aussie company as well but are a little out of my price range.

I think I will have to find a design then buy the parts. If anyone in blogland knows of any shops in Australia let me know.

The photo's up on the blog today are of an unfinished Woodcraft kit. I liked this kit but am really unsure of the scale. I managed to buy a matching woodkit for the furniture that fits the size. Putting it together is a pain (and still continues to be a pain) Bits don't quite fit and tend to fall off. Lot's of glue needed.

I decorated the house with both paint and stain to try and get the wooden window look. I still need to do quite a bit of touch up on some areas where paint has landed in the wrong spots. I had some help to score the wood to make it look like polished floorboards to save on recovering the floor. I would have also like to have added a floor in the center of the stairwell. The house is all stairs and funny size rooms that don't fit much furniture.

I wasn't sure about what to do with the furniture to finish it. I saw a blog yesterday that had many items from their dollhouse covered in scrapbooking paper, which look effective so I thought today I would give it a try.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

I've taken some more photos of the shop that I gave Mum for Christmas. This time you can see some of the shop equipment in situ. All the shop fiitings are in the same spots as they were in the real shop.

The view from the grocery section to back room. You will notice a tiny bucket with a name on it. This is Howard's Bucket. Howard was a long time friend of my Mum's and would collect food scraps from us for his pigs that he raised. They particularly liked all the lettuce scraps. Howard loved Cheese as well and would always buy the most stinkiest cheese he could buy. It would always surprise me what he purchased.

View from the front left window. You can see the Streets fridge and deli counter behind it.

The view from above. As you can see there is plenty of room left to add things. I would like to purchase another 1 door fridge to create a freezer to place near the sandwich bar. I have already had many comments on things Ive missed so I have lots of making and buying to do. On my list are:

- Fire extinguisher and blanket.

- Buckets of daffodils with for sale sign to sit on front steps.

- Tilling of front steps.

- Bell for front door.

-Electronic scale (my old one is not what Mum had)

-Labels for Lolly jars.

-Eggs plus egg cartons.

-Framed prints of vegies (I have now taken photo's of these and will be able to make them soon)

- Chewing gum stand.

- Chip stand.

-Chuppa Chups stand.

As you can see the list is getting longer!

I was really sad this week to find out that the maker of the real (edible 1:1) cakes and plum puddings died over christmas. I can't remember a Christmas without his fruit cake at least in the last 15 years. He was a lovely man and will be sadly missed.

On a happier note my boyfriend has said that he will help me with my next project. I would really like a new dollhouse and have been wondering about the Greenleaf Garfield. The only problem with this in Australia is that many shops don't stock Greenleaf. So to purchase it from the US is looking very expensive. (On ebay some quote over $300 AUD just for the postage EEKK!!!) I really like the style of the Garfield. I have also looked at Queen Ann style houses as well. Shane's idea is to find a photo of a real house that I like then attempt to make it. Any ideas?